ABSTRACT
Budget control procedures track ‘actual’ and ‘committed’ expenditure against that planned, identify variances, and should trigger both investigation of any significant variances and any corrective actions. Do not be too concerned to find budget variances, as the plan on which your budget is based will vary too. Do be concerned about significant variances, and ensure you understand why and how they have occurred. Note that actual expenditure is where payment has been made, whereas committed expenditure is where you have not yet made payment but are contractually committed to do so, such as when you have hired and used the services of a consultant whose company will invoice you in due course.
